"Fly the Friendly Skies with United"

Remember the old advertising slogan, "Fly the Friendly Skies with United?" Well, evidently they're not so friendly lately. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the economy, or maybe it's all the rules about flying, but airline passengers have never been as unruly as they have this summer. We had the rude passenger on JetBlue that prompted Steven Slater to chunk his job, and quit in a blaze of glory. The next day, JetBlue had another rude passenger, and had to land early. Today we hear about a mother of a one year old flying from Dallas to Albuquerque, who slapped her child, so they took the baby away from her for the rest of the flight. The way I understand it, it wasn't a spanking but a slap, with the insinuation that it was on the face? (Aren't most slaps in the face?)

In the old days, flying was a big deal where everyone dressed up, and acted like they were in church or court. Stewardesses (now 'flight attendants') dressed up, and had to be under a certain weight, and were weighed daily. Now, it's like riding in a bus in the sky. And with the loss of civility in this country (and in the West), people are behaving badly. No one has manners anymore. The 'Mile High Club,' popular in the 80's, is mild compared to the stories we hear now. Stories such as people, thousands of feet up in the air, trying to open the emergency door IN FLIGHT.

I like driving... I think I'll stick with that...